The finalists for the 2025 Kirkus Prize have been announced. Awards are given in three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction and Young Readers’ Literature. Winners receive $50,000 each. Here are the finalists in the Young Readers’ Literature category which is divided into subcategories with two finalists in each:
Elena has a new tent that she can’t wait to set up and camp in! But when she tries to set it up, it doesn’t work as easily as she expects. With huge GA-BUNKs and GA-BANGs it keeps going wrong. She tries three times, but nothing works. Elena gets angry and stomps around. Sharp-eyed readers will see the instructions in many of the pictures well before a little bird mentions to Elena that they are there. Elena decides to accept the bird’s help and read the instructions and soon she is ready to camp.
Released simultaneously in a Spanish edition, this second Elena book is just right for beginning readers. Elena’s tries to get a tent set up all on her own are shown with a broad sense of humor and the message of accepting a little help when you need it is shared frankly with readers. The illustrations are colorful and Elena the purple elephant pops on the page next to her yellow tent.
A fun and friendly beginning reader. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Powerhouse easy-reader creator Rylant returns with a new easy-reader series called Mouse and Spoon. Set in a bakery owned by three mouse siblings, each book focuses on a different special order that the mice must make. In Owlets and Tarts, the mice make Pillow Tarts to help the young owlets fall asleep as well as Half-Moon Buns for the owl parents. For the elephant, the request is for pound cake for the elephant’s birthday and banana bread for the monkeys. Now the mice just have to figure out how to make enough cake for an elephant!
There is a lovely rhythm to both of these books, marking them as a pair. They start in similar ways, introducing the mice and their bakery, so it doesn’t matter what order you read them in. Then the special order arrives and the mice have to figure out how to do it. Told in very simple words and with a lovely softness to the illustrations, this easy-reader series is perfectly sweet.
A new Rylant series to devour! Appropriate for ages 4-6.
When Wanda was growing up in Puerto Rico’s rainforest, she couldn’t see the stars because of all the trees. She first truly saw the stars on a family fishing trip and she was entirely amazed by them. Wanda was a child who didn’t like school all that much and certainly didn’t like the shots she had to take for her diabetes. Eventually, she found out what she liked at school and decided to study physics in college. But at college, she started losing her eyesight due to her diabetes and eventually became blind. How could a blind person study the stars? Happily, she had friends around her to encourage her and one friend who was using sounds to study the stars. Now Wanda could listen to the stars and hear them. Wanda moved to the United States and continued to study the stars, making discoveries that only someone listening to the noises could have found.
An amazing story of overcoming a disability in a field where it seemed impossible to go on, this nonfiction picture book shows Wanda’s perseverance, skill and also her willingness to accept help in order to find her way forward. The story itself is wonderfully written for young readers and the ending where the star noises are shared on the page is amazing in an entirely additional way. The illustrations are friendly and invite readers to engage with the material.
A fascinating and inspiring true story. Appropriate for ages 6-9.
The Everything Trail by Meg Fleming, illustrated by Chuck Groenink (9781665924870)
A diverse group of children head into a redwood forest filled with the giant trees. They follow a path bordered by ferns along the creek. The forest is filled with bird song and cool canyon air. They continue to follow the water until they reach a dramatic waterfall. They see animals that are fast and slow, high and low. Sunlight drenches some areas and never reaches the inside of the cave they enter. When they reach the open air of the hillside, they see that everything is both big and small at the same time.
Told in non-rhyming poetic lines, this picture book celebrates the joy of hiking in the wilderness with friends. There is a jaunty rhythm to the book that works well with the footfalls of a hike, the dramatic reveals and the small joys. The illustrations are merry and bright, the cave filled with its own sort of lights, and the varied terrain makes for an entertaining read.
This merry picture book celebrates getting outside and moving. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Beach Lane Books.
We Go Slow by Mariahadessa Edere Tallie, illustrated by Aaron Becker (9781665950602)
After everyone else rushes out of the house to start their day, a girl and her caretaker start their day more slowly. They share stories and listen to records during breakfast. Then they leave the house to enjoy their urban neighborhood full of birdsong, neighbors, flowers and art. They eat snacks, visit the park, and take public transport. Through the busy, buzzing city, the two of them move at their own pace taking the time to notice the small things that make up their city together.
The words of this picture book invite readers to slow down and enjoy reading it. There is a wonderful looping recall of “We go slow” that returns again and again, allowing everyone to breathe a bit. The illustrations done in watercolor and colored pencil have a gauzy feel with their focus on pinks, yellows and purples. It’s rather dreamlike and yet still vibrant and urban.
A slow gem of a book to share. Appropriate for ages 3-6.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Full of new fingerplays and finger rhymes, this picture book is a marvelous resource for families, teachers and librarians. The rhymes have a timeless quality to them that will make them seamlessly join in more traditional finger rhymes like “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Taylor has created a collection that will be beloved and I’m hoping that some of his rhymes become universal on the storytime circuit. They have a bounce, a rhythm and a jolly sense of humor that small children will adore.
Woodcock’s illustrations seamlessly incorporate the actions and move alongside the rhymes so that adults can quickly read the rhyme and gestures together. The colors are bright and friendly and feature a diverse cast of children acting out the rhymes on the page. The focus on learning through movement is joyful.
This one belongs in every library and would make a great gift for new parents. Appropriate for ages 0-4.
The winners of the 2025 Book of the Year Awards have been announced by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Here are the winners and honor books for each category:
Big Little Baby by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Trudy Tan (9780593890868)
This board book is a warm and lovely take on a universal baby game of “Baby is SO big” while you raise their hands above their head. The book quickly expands the game to show how strong and big baby is. From being strong like an elephant and stretching to reach a toy to roaring with hunger like a bear. The story then turns to how small baby is, a part of the book that is filled with butterfly kisses and being held close. The book ends with bedtime and a sleeping baby. Award-winning Scanlon sets just the right gentle and playful feel with a rhythm and rhyme that allows the book to skip along at a baby-friendly pace. The illustrations have a lovely watercolor softness combined with engaging colors.
Just right for babies no matter how big or small. Appropriate for ages 0-3.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Penguin Random House.
Waking Brain Cells 